The New Neighbors
by Vanilla and Chocolate
Summary: I swear this is a plot against me. There’s no way the kid in my Chemistry class can be the real Edward Elric, but everything seems to point in that direction. God must hate me.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello, everyone! ((Waves melodramatically)) This is Agent000 reporting from, um...Agent000land? Ahem. Me and AdventureAddict both decided to get ourselves a joint account so we could coauthor stories with each other more easily. So, our first assignment: Each takes a fic from the other that badly needs rewriting and rewrites it the best they can from their perspective. I took AdventureAddict's fanfic "The New Neighbors" and began to rewrite it, and she took my fanfic "My Body, Your Soul" and began to rewrite it. Both will be up shortly.**_

_**So, this chapter was incredibly fun to rewrite. I was very shocked when I started writing from Robyn's point of view, since that had not been done in the original version, but somehow it had just started...happening? ((chuckles)) Both Robyn and Kari were SO much fun to write. I suspect Ed will be quite fun to write too in future chapters, but he just has to get more time to shine.**_

_**Anyway, I extend a hearty welcome to both the returning fans of this story and to the newcomers who are reading this for the first time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did rewriting it. **_

_**Disclaimer: Neither of us owns Fullmetal Alchemist. I'll come up with a more creative disclaimer when it's not four in the morning.  
**_

School was boring. Everyone knew that. Everyone accepted that. Well, except for the teachers who didn't seem to get how boring they were, and the parents who always thought it was nowhere _nearly_ as boring as what _they_ had to go through at work.

I slung my backpack over my arm and cringed as the book-laden bag fell against my back. Oh what cruel friends books could be. They loved you one moment, and the next, they shouted "School!" from every orifice. Wow, books had orifices? I would have to think more on that later. Right then, I had to get to school.

As soon as I stepped outside, I knew something was wrong. Now would be a perfect time to pretend I was psychic until I was disproved, as always seemed to happen. One of these days, I swore I would guess something before it happened. In the meantime, my job would be to look around and figure out where the wrong vibe was coming from.

The grass was still as green as ever, so it couldn't be that. Well, the Gurps' grass was as brown as ever. Massachusetts wasn't a desert, so I wasn't sure how my neighbors always managed to kill their grass, but they somehow pulled it off. Everything they touched seemed to fall into disorder. Nice. What a talent.

I flicked my eyes up at the sky, but saw nothing to explain the feeling. It was a rather nice day, and I scowled and shook my fist at the sky for being nice on a school day. Stupid sky.

Now where had I not looked? Oh yeah, toward the other neighbor's house, supposing that even counted. That house had been vacant for a long time. Still, I looked, saw something different, and breathed a sigh of relief at the validation I wasn't going crazy. A moving van was parked in front of the house. That was what I had subconsciously registered as I'd stepped out the door. We were going to have new neighbors, and I found myself silently praying that these neighbors would be better than the Gurps.

Having solved the mystery and concluding with a sigh that I still wasn't psychic, I readjusted my backpack and started on my way to school. Evil school, it stood there across the street from my house, laughing at me every morning. It liked to make me think about school even on the weekends by sitting there within view of my house. Oh yes, I knew its evil plot.

First period. Chemistry. Ugh. Why did I have to have a thinking subject first thing in the morning? This school was just having a laugh at my expense, I knew it. Well, I didn't think the joke was funny, and I was going to have to find a way to get the last laugh on the school one of these days.

After checking in at my locker, I entered the classroom and made my way over to my desk and was about to sit down when I stopped, holding my books against my chest like a shield. The desks were built to fit two people, but I had not yet been given a partner. That is, I hadn't had one before today.

The boy sitting on the other side of my desk started and turned to look at me, and I took a step backward. I wasn't afraid of the boy per se, but there was something so—-so—-_something_—-about the boy it was unnerving to me.

I couldn't quite remember what was bothering me. He had long blond hair pulled back into a braid, which registered as familiar somehow, but my brain had still not woken up from its late morning snooze. He was wearing gloves too, which seemed odd for him to be wearing them in the classroom. And then there was the red coat he was wearing. It wasn't so cold that someone would need to wear their jacket inside.

Then it hit me. This boy was dressed like Edward Elric. How had I not thought of that right away? It was further proof that my brain should not be expected to exercise in the morning. Even watching Fullmetal Alchemist too early resulted in a wide open jaw and drool on my chin.

My shoulders relaxed and I smiled. If this boy was to be my new desk mate, that could be rather cool. We could both be obsessed fans together.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer."

I blinked a couple times as I registered where I was and realized the speaker had been the boy I'd been looking at, as though moving lips weren't a clue that someone might be speaking. Perhaps I needed to perform a brain transmutation to bring my brain back from the dead.

I looked into the boy's eyes for the first time, and simultaneously leapt for joy and cringed when I saw his eyes were golden like Edward's. This guy was obsessed, maybe more than I was, if that was even possible.

My brain came online and I remembered how to speak. "I left my camera at home."

The boy rolled his eyes and sighed, and I felt the heat rising in my face as I realized he had been sarcastic. Stupid, stupid brain. When I woke up, it was supposed to wake up with me. I was going to murder it—-with a hatchet, or I would drop it from a tall building, or I would boil it, mash it, and put it in a stew…

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and sat down in my seat, even though "Ed's" presence next to me made me feel a little bit uneasy, but I would get used to it soon enough, once I got used to the idea that I had a realistic Edward Elric sitting in the seat next to me.

I placed my books on the desk and turned to face the boy. "I'm Robyn."

"Edward," he said, and I blinked, not sure I'd heard right. After a minute, I decided I had, and I laughed. "Ed" scowled at me and said, "What's so funny?"

"What's your real name?"

"Edward. I told you that."

I still didn't believe him, and I told him so in the midst of my giggles. He groaned and said, "What's so hard to believe about that?

"Um, maybe the way you're dressed?" I said.

"What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?"

I was spared having to answer, because Mr. Duncan walked into the classroom right then. I breathed a sigh of relief even as "Ed" shot me a glare and turned to face the teacher. I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of answering his question for long, but by then, I'd have had time to think up a legitimate answer.

As soon as the period ended, I gathered my books and rushed out of the room. I had no idea why I was behaving this way, since "Ed" hadn't done anything to hurt me or anything, yet he'd still managed to trigger something in me I hadn't felt in a while. Perhaps it was the fangirl in me.

I stopped in the hallway and leaned against a locker to catch my breath. I was being silly. Edward was a common name, and even though this guy dressed like Edward Elric, it was possible he could also have the name of Edward. It was unlikely, but still possible. Maybe if I had asked him his last name, he would have given me a name I could have believed. I would have to try that next time.

"Hey, Robbie, whatcha doin'?"

I looked up and smiled as my friend Kari walked over to where I was and leaned against the locker next to me. I needed something normal in my life after dealing with Wonderboy in Chemistry class—-though I wasn't sure Kari counted as "normal", but she would have to do.

"We studied alchemy in Chemistry today."

Kari raised an eyebrow, half interested, half bored, in her strange Kari way. "Really?"

"Uh huh," I said. I knew Kari was bored and wanted to talk about something other than schoolwork, but I pretended I hadn't noticed. I knew she was at least a little bit interested in the subject of alchemy, since she had been the one to introduce me to Fullmetal Alchemist in the first place. "And do you know who was sitting next to me in class?"

By this point, Kari had moved to inspecting her nails, which I knew was a definite sign of her wanting to move onto something more interesting, but wasn't annoyed enough to say so yet. "No. You have a partner now?"

"Yep, just got him today."

Kari's attention turned on me, and I smiled. Of course the silly girl would pay attention once a mysterious new boy was mentioned.

"Is he hot?"

I blushed, but continued smiling. How was one supposed to answer a question like that? It was an Edward Elric clone who had been sitting next to me, and I was having to answer whether he was hot or not?

"Oh, oh, he is! You're blushing. What does he look like?"

"Well…" I licked my lips and looked both ways to make sure no one important was coming our way, namely a certain Ed clone. "He—-He looks kind of like—-Edward Elric?"

"Oh my gosh!" shrieked Kari, who jumped a couple inches in the air and grabbed my shirt and shook me. "Tell me you asked him out on a date. Tell me. Tell me!"

I couldn't talk for those painstaking few seconds as Kari shook my shirt, unless one counted the "Uwah uwah uwah" sounds coming out of my throat from lack of control. I regained my sense of balance and grabbed Kari's arm so it could do no more damage.

"Kari, I barely even know the guy! I only met him a few minutes ago."

"That's no excuse. You can't let a hottie like that get away from you."

I chuckled and shook my head. I couldn't help it. Kari could be rather annoying when she got like this, but there was something so endearing about her quirkiness at the same time. There was no point in arguing with her at the moment as I needed to get to P.E., and I tried to wriggle free of Kari's grip, but Kari held firm.

"Kari, let go! You want me to be late for P.E.?"

"I'll let you go if you'll promise to ask him out."

I rolled my eyes and forced some air out of the corner of my mouth. "Kari, if you make me late, you'll be late too, now let me go!"

"Why won't you just ask him out?"

"I—" I was cut off before I could answer by the bell ringing, and without any further words, Kari released her death grip and took off running for P.E. I stashed my books and sprinted after her. I hoped I wouldn't be late. If I was, it would all be Kari's fault.

I arrived in the gymnasium and collapsed against the nearest wall, out of breath. What was the point of staying now that I'd already gotten my exercise? Maybe I could talk the teacher into believing that. Then again, they were probably in league with the school and wanted to make sure I hated it as much as possible.

"What took you so long?" Kari said as she crossed her arms and strutted toward me.

I buried my face in my hands as I went to my knees in melodramatic annoyance. "Argh, what did I ever do to anger the gods so much that they had to make us share P.E.?"

"Oh, get up, goof ball." She slapped my back and I raised my head to look at her. "I think your boyfriend is here."

"He's not my b—-" I cut off my sentence as soon as I realized what she was saying, and I looked around the room. "Wait, he _is_?"

Sure enough, a teacher from one of the other classrooms was leading Mr. Clone Boy into the room. Kari started giggling in an annoying fangirl way which made my stomach do flip flops at the thought of going out on a date with this guy as she kept suggesting. I so wanted to kill her right then.

"There you go, Edward," said the teacher, "if you have any questions, Mr. Carli will be happy to answer them for you."

I felt Kari's gaze piercing into the side of my head and I turned to look at her, hoping that would make it stop, but it only got worse. "What?" I asked.

She put her hands on her hips. "His _name_ is Edward too? Why didn't you _tell_ me?"

"Well, I—-"

"No," she said, and she grabbed my hand and pulled me over to where Edward was standing. "You're going out with this guy. No excuses!"

"Kaaaariiii…" She didn't seem to hear my pleas, either that or she was ignoring them. Either way, she was evil, and I think she knew it and would just laugh if I were to tell her so.

She thrust me into Edward's field of vision, saying, "Tell him! Tell him!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I turned away from Edward's confused gaze and looked at the pushy girl at my side. "Kari…"

Edward raised an eyebrow and regarded both of us with mild curiosity. "Tell me what?"

_Oh, if only you knew._ "Um," I said, "You know, you're kind of short."

"What?!"

I knew I had said the wrong thing and would get murdered if I stuck around, so I tore away from Kari and took off running across the gym. Who knew he would not only look like Edward Elric and share his first name, but act like him too? This was kind of creepy, especially now that I was on the run for my life.

"So I'm short, huh? Call me short again! Tell me I'm short!"

That wasn't what I had expected to hear from someone who acted so much like Edward Elric, but who was I to judge how someone like him was supposed to act? Oh right, perhaps I _was_ in a place to judge, being shorter than Mr. Ed himself. It was surprising he hadn't realized that yet. He must really have some issues with his height to not notice.

He was almost upon me, but I was not going to let him catch me. No homicidal Edward Elric clone could catch the great Robyn Davenport. Now would be an excellent time to utilize my gymnastics skills and wow him into forgetting what he was chasing me for.

As it turned out, I didn't have to do much, because before I could make my first move, I tripped over myself and fell into a crumpled heap on the ground, and because Ed had been so close behind me, he tripped as well and added his weight to the pile of Robyn.

"Nice!" shouted Kari, calling from the other side of the gym. "You guys are off to a great start! Keep it up!"

I shook my fist at Kari and we untangled ourselves from each other. Ed shot me a glare and said, "What do you mean I'm short? You're shorter than me!"

So he had noticed, and yet had still overreacted. I shook my head and started laughing, unable to control myself. He crossed his arms and seemed to be staring right into my soul, which I caught onto after a while and stopped laughing as I asked him what he was looking at.

"You've got purple eyes. That's weird."

I scoffed. "No weirder than golden eyes."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it—-" Ed didn't get to finish his statement as Mr. Carli called to everyone in the gym to get into their appointed seats, and I smirked at Ed and jumped up, shouting about how I'd won since he hadn't been able to finish his sentence. I didn't realize until later how much I would regret doing that.

Edward walked up to Mr. Carli to ask him about where he was supposed to sit, and the teacher pointed at the empty spot next to me. Great, I had to deal with him _again_? Ed's not a bad guy or anything, but I had just won a battle against him. It wouldn't be safe to gloat if he sat right next to me.

Edward walked up and plopped down next to me on the floor and crossed his legs. He looked at me and said, "Davenport?" There was no point in responding to that, so I dignified the comment with a snort. That seemed to shut him up.

Mr. Carli ran us through our routine exercises, and then announced that we were all going to the weight room and each needed a partner. I had always paired up with Kari for these things, and so my first reaction was to run to her, which I did, but she crossed her arms and glared at me with disapproval.

"Aren't you going with Ed?"

I turned and looked at the boy, then turned back to face Kari and shook my head in slight embarrassment. No way was I going with Mr. Fangirl's Dream. Kari wouldn't hear it, and she grabbed me and forcibly turned my body around so I was looking at the object of our attention.

"Look at him, Robbie, all alone. It's so sad!" I looked, and I had to agree it was pretty sad. Poor Ed was looking around, trying to find a partner, but everyone else had already paired up with their friends. It was amazing how fast a whole class could do that.

"Yeah, but—-" I still wasn't sure I could take the idea of partnering up with Boy Wonder, even though he sat next to me in Chemistry. "Who will you pair up with?"

"I'll go with Joe," she said. I rolled my eyes. It figured she'd take the option of going with her boyfriend in an attempt to force me to hang out with Ed. "Now go on!" She gave me a rough shove in Ed's direction, and I staggered a few steps before I regained my footing. I shrugged and decided to just do as she'd said. This was only a partnering for gym, nothing special. Besides, I had to show off the awesome skills gymnastics had given me. Even Ed wouldn't be able to beat that.

I went and told him I'd be his partner, which he agreed to, and so we both made our way to the weight room. There were several different stations to work with, and so we started at the station with all the mats on the floor as our first station. We would be doing tummy crunches.

I stuck my tongue out at Ed as we both laid down on the mats. "I bet I can do more crunches in a minute than you can."

"You're on!"

Mr. Carli blew his whistle, and we crunched. And crunched. And crunched some more. I was starting to wonder if my insides really _were_ crunching when the teacher blew his whistle again and I plopped onto my back, gasping for breath. I grinned a cheesy grin and announced, "Fifty!"

Ed snickered, so I turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. He looked back mischievously and said, "Fifty-one."

I sat up and shouted. "No way! No one can beat me at crunches!"

Ed sat up and patted my head. I knew he was mocking me, and I was seething inside at his very touch. "Birdie, just admit it, you lost."

I ground my teeth. _Birdie?_ "My name is _Robyn!_" But he was already on his feet and had run laughing to the next station. He was so dead now.

I found Ed at the weights station. This would be a nice, slow, and miserable death for the poor boy. Never compete with a gymnast. Even though we specialized in flexibility rather than strength, we still had to be strong to pull off the feats we did. I set the weights at 35, a bit high for starting out, but I needed to make sure it was hard for Ed to keep up.

After my turn was up, Ed stationed himself at the weights and raised the weight to 40. He lifted it easily, as though he was just warming up. Well, we'd see about that.

I raised it to 45. He raised it to 50. I went to 55. He went to 60. After I got as far as 85, I could no longer lift the weights, and Ed was standing behind me, snickering. I shot a glare at him and told him that if he was so tough, he should come and lift these stupid weights. He shrugged, set it to 95 out of spite, and tugged as hard as he could—-and lifted the weights.

I was so going to kill him.

We finished with the exercises, and we were both covered in sweat. I was wondering if I was dead yet, because if I wasn't, I knew I would be soon. Ed had practically killed me back there. I stumbled out of the weight room and managed to limp into the locker room.

Kari raised an eyebrow when she saw me and said, "What happened to you?"

"Ed the Tornado," I moaned.

Kari laughed and said, "Aw, did the amazing widdo Robbie finally get beaten?"

I slapped her and walked on past, sweaty shirt and all. It had completely escaped my mind to change into something less—-wet. I was too mad to think. How could I have been beaten? There had been some people I had teamed up with before who could beat me in some things, but not in _everything_.

"Hey, Rob, catch!" I spun around just in time to see Kari toss a t-shirt in my direction, and I caught it just before it went all over my face.

"I think you're going to need it after all that," she said with a chuckle. I glared at her and stormed off.

My list of people to kill had just gained another member.

_**Thank you to everyone for reading that, and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon, the second chapter should be up shortly!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Okay, first off, those of you who didn't catch it last time, I am not stealing this story. Vanilla and Chocolate is the shared account of both AdventureAddict and Agent000. Me and AdventureAddict agreed to take a story from each other and rewrite it from our own perspective to get practice on co-authoring. In other words, I have her permission to rewrite The New Neighbors and she has my permission to rewrite **_**_My Body, Your Soul. It really irks people to be accused to stealing their own stories, you know? Please, people, learn to read author's notes before pointing fingers._**

_**Anyway, now that I've gotten that out of my system, welcome back to this second chapter of The New Neighbors! I hope you enjoy it. Robyn's quite the character to write. :P**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I could try putting a leash on him and showing him off like a pet, but I think he'd start arguing with me over the issue and would make it not worth the effort.  
**_

I leaned against the brick wall as I walked to the cafeteria. English was a bore. Geometry was a bore. I'd doodled through both classes, my mind focused on the freakish Ed clone. I couldn't believe he had beaten me.

I turned the corner, and there he was, in all his glory, leaning against the wall beside a poster about the upcoming Anime Club on Monday and looking as bored as could be, perhaps even more so than me, which is saying something. I snorted at the thought of what he'd put me through that morning and I walked up to him.

"Hey, Wonderboy!"

Ed raised an eyebrow and said, "Wonderboy?"

"Yes," I said, "Wonderboy."

"If you mean I'm an awesome superhero, then yes, I'm glad you think so too."

I snorted again. He broke out in an amused grin and said, "Pfft. What's with all the snorting. Are you a pig now?"

I put my hands on my hips. If nothing else, I could at least best him in a verbal sparring match. "If I'm a pig, you're a piglet."

He scowled and I knew the comment had sunk home. He had just opened his mouth to say something when the bell rang and he looked around as though having forgotten what he had just been doing a moment before.

"Yes, lunchtime!" he said.

I moaned, causing him to look toward me and once again raise an eyebrow, so I furthered my performance by placing the back of my hand across my forehead and sighing. "You mean we share lunch together too?"

He crossed his arms. "If you hate me so much, don't sit with me."

I walked past him and shoved him to the side, even though that wasn't necessary considering there was plenty of room in the hall. His facial expression had made it so worth it. I turned back around and flashed him a mischievous glare. "Race you to the cafeteria!"

Without further warning, I was off, and after a quick, "Hey, that's not fair!" I heard his boots clunking behind mine as we raced each other through the halls. A short while later, we were neck and neck with each other, but I wasn't about to let him pass me. This was one thing I was going to win against him.

We entered the cafeteria and darted for the nearest free table we could see, slapping our hands onto it at the same time. "I—-won!" shouted Ed between breaths. We were both panting heavily.

I shook my head and said, "Did—-Not. I—-Totally—-Won" He didn't seem to buy that, but I didn't buy his assertion of his winning either, so we just let it drop—-for now. I knew the truth anyway. He was just a loser.

I pulled out my ham sandwich from my lunch sack, and Ed went to the lunch line. He soon came back with a huge mountain of food, typical for anyone named Ed it seemed, and I continued munching on my ham sandwich, wondering why we were even sitting at the same table when we were always trying to compete with each other. It wasn't like we were friends or anything. We had just met that morning.

I reached into my lunch bag again and felt around for my drink, only to realize it wasn't in there. Dang, I had forgotten to pack a drink. It looked like I would have to buy my own, if I had enough change to do so. I pulled whatever I had in my pocket out and counted it up. Fifty cents. Just enough for a carton of chocolate milk. It would have to do.

"Ed, I'm going to—-" I looked at the boy, who was devouring the food on his plate as though he had never eaten a thing in his life and I changed my mind about telling him where I was going. It wasn't like he would hear anything through all that commotion.

I bought the chocolate milk and came back to my table. "Where were you?" he asked. I shrugged and poked my straw into the milk carton, which seemed to have attracted his attention.

"Bleh!" He covered his eyes with his free hand. "And here I thought you might be a good person after all. Guess I was wrong."

I laughed. That was just too cute how he was acting like Edward Elric down to the last detail, but I wasn't going to let him know how cute he was. It would be much more fun to push his buttons and see what else he would do.

"Yes, I've joined the dark side." I took a sip of my milk, swallowed it, then smiled and blew through the straw so the milk in the carton bubbled. Ed squirmed in his seat, pushed his chair back a couple inches, then turned his head so he wouldn't have to look at me and clamped his hands over his ears.

"Must you do that?"

I put on my best puppy dog stare and said, "Do what?"

He snapped his head back to me. "You know d—- well what!"

I put my hand over my mouth and laughed into it. He didn't seem amused. I could see him glaring at me, and if his aura had gotten any more intense, it would have turned visible. Then I could point to him and say, "See? He really _is_ Edward Elric! His aura becomes visible like an anime character's."

I quickly drank the last few sips and tossed the empty carton into the trash can behind me. No need to torture the poor guy more than I needed to. He would avoid me if I did, and then I wouldn't have anyone to pick on. "There, better?"

"Much better."

"You need to chill, Ed. Milk isn't going to kill you."

"Says you."

I chuckled, but bit my tongue and avoided saying any of the things I wanted to. "Um—-" I searched for something better to talk about than milk or height, or the lack of it, and then remembered the poster I had seen earlier. "Oh hey, would you like to come with me to Anime Club on Monday?"

As soon as I had said that, I wondered why I had. If this guy went around dressing the way he did every day, he was going to stand out. Perhaps that wouldn't be a bad thing in Anime Club, but perhaps it would be.

Ed shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"Heh, okay." I needed to learn how to check my thoughts before sharing them. "It's in the social studies room. I'm not sure if you know where that is."

He waved the comment off as if it were nothing. "I'll be going there later today, so I'll know where it is by Monday."

"Okay, um—-" I needed to get off the topic of Anime Club and anything else awkward fast, and I wracked my brain for something else to talk about. School was too boring. Lunch was too obvious. I could talk about Fullmetal Alchemist, but this guy would probably just pretend to be clueless since he was so dedicated to his Edward Elric act. What else was there to talk about?

A smile then spread across my face. There were other ways to get him to talk about Fullmetal Alchemist without having to say it outright. "So, Ed, do you have any siblings?"

He didn't bat an eye and shrugged. "Nope. What about you?"

I stared at the boy as though he had just flown in from outer space. That had not been the answer I had expected from someone who was trying so hard to be Edward Elric. Why hadn't he started rambling about Alphonse? What kind of Ed clone wouldn't?

He regarded me with a suspicious glare. "What?"

"Oh, n—-" I began, but the bell cut me off and I didn't have to finish my statement. I gathered my things and ran out of the room. This guy was getting to me for some reason, and I didn't know why.

I didn't see Ed for the rest of the school day, and I thought that would be the last I saw of him before Monday, but I was wrong. Just as soon as I'd stepped out the door, there he was, Mr. Red himself.

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you standing around for?" Somehow it struck me as odd since he didn't look like he was waiting for someone, and he wasn't talking to anyone before I came along.

He shrugged. "I don't know, what are you standing around for?"

"Asking what you're standing around for."

"And I'm asking what you're standing around for."

"You're a nut!"

"What kind of nut?"

"Um," I said, having to think over that one a bit, "A crunchy nut?"

He raised an eyebrow. "A _crunchy_ nut?"

"Yes," I said, "Nuts are crunchy, are they not?"

Ed waved his hands at me. "I don't even want to go there."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, you perv!"

"_You_ put it in there in the first place!"

I blew a raspberry at him and told him I was going to the park and would catch him again on Monday, so we waved to each other and went our separate ways. That guy was quite the character, an anime character in fact. Well, I didn't think he _was_ Edward Elric, but he was convincing enough to be him if Edward Elric really existed.

I plopped down under a tree in the park and flipped open my sketchbook. It was already full of doodles from my day of hard work at school. The teachers would probably yell at me later, but I had no use for most of that schoolwork anyway. Art seemed a lot more practical. It was more fun and brought joy to people's lives, unlike math and some of those other things we had to do. Okay, math was good for some things, but I didn't have to like it.

I drew some random lines on the paper, not quite sure what I was doing, but I just let the art inside me guide my fingers. It felt so good to express myself this way. It was the one way I could let it all out.

Before long, I realized what I was drawing was taking form, and not just any form, but that of the Boy of Wonder himself. I chuckled to myself. Maybe I should draw a little cape on his back to emphasize his awesome superhero comment. Then again, just drawing him as Edward Elric seemed cool enough. I had never been able to picture Edward Elric realistically before today, and that seemed like a good enough challenge for me.

Finally satisfied with my drawing, I decided I might as well go home and prepare dinner before my dad got there and started wondering where I was, so I packed up my things and set off for home.

When I got there, there was no sign of my dad yet, so I figured I might as well be a friendly neighbor and go greet the newcomers. That would allow me to find out what kind of people they were and if they were better than the Gurps.

First, we needed a batch of cookies, but that wouldn't take long. My mother had taught me to save myself a little time by making up a few batches ahead of time and keeping the mix so all I had to do was add the liquids, throw it on the cookie sheet, and bake it. It was awesome how fast that made things go.

After the cookies were baked, I pulled the cookie sheet out of the oven and scooped one of the steaming hot cookies off of the sheet with a spatula. The best time to eat them was when they were piping hot, fresh from the oven, even though they were the most deadly then as well. I still couldn't pass up such an awesome opportunity, not by any means, not even for my own safety.

I nibbled on the cookie while assembling the rest of them on a paper plate so I could take them over to the neighbors. My mom's cinnamon chip cookie recipe was an absolute winner they were sure to like. I missed the things she used to make. She had been the best cook in the world, but she had taught me a few of her best recipes, so I could make her spirit live on in a sense.

I wrapped the cookies in cellophane and went out the door and over to the next door neighbor's house. I went up to the porch, took a deep breath, and knocked. It was always a bit unnerving to meet new people, but I was fine until I found myself in front of a closed door. Well, I had already knocked and alerted the people to my presence, and I was hearing footsteps coming toward the door, so I might as well wait for whoever it was to come and answer it. Even I'm not rude enough to run off after I've knocked, except maybe with the Gurps.

The door swung open, and my jaw dropped open in amazement. This was impossible. What was Wonderboy doing here?

His eyes bulged open as soon as he registered who was standing on his doorstep, and he jumped back. "You?! How did you find out where I lived?"

I blinked. "You _live_ here? _You're_ my new neighbor?" I shook my head. "Geez, what are the chances of that?"

He crossed his arms, stepped back towards me and shot me a glare, only to interrupt his glaring when he caught sight of what I held in my hand. "Are those cookies?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, they're for the discus throw, of _course_ they're cookies!"

He snorted, yet seemed a bit sheepish after that. Maybe I should quit being so hard on him since he was going see a lot of me from now on, being my new next door neighbor. Still, he was fun to tease. It was so easy to push his buttons.

"Um, would you mind if I had one?"

I chuckled and shook my head. How could I have been so rude? "Of course. I made these for my new neighbors." I thrust the entire plate into his hands, and he tore off the cellophane and bit down into the first cookie he could grab.

"MMMMMMMmmmmmm!"

I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head. One would think this guy had never had cookies in his life, though I had to admit my cookies were pretty good. My mom couldn't have cooked badly if she had tried.

"You made these?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I made them. They're my mom's recipe. I don't know what else to use cinnamon chips for."

He turned to head into his house, and I thought that was the last I was going to see of him for the day this time, but he turned back and motioned for me to come in. I shrugged and did so. There was no reason I could think of not to, and I was a bit curious as to the living conditions of Mr. Clone, even though he had just moved in.

Boxes were strewn all about with barely any room to walk, let alone sit. There was a couch, but it was still buried beneath loads of boxes. Ed dealt with this by sitting on a box on the floor and motioning for me to do the same. Okay, I could deal with that. I found myself a sturdy box and made myself comfortable on it.

"So," I said, trying my hardest to make conversation, but failing, "Where are your parents?"

"Still at work," he said through a mouthful of cookie.

I nodded and bit my lip. I wasn't sure if that was true or not, though there was no reason I should think otherwise, but I had never met someone who seemed so Edward Elric-like before in my life, and I so wanted to believe he was the real Edward Elric, even though I knew fictional characters didn't exist. If he were the real Edward Elric, his parents wouldn't still be at work.

I sighed, and Ed looked up at me from his cookie devouring escapades. "What's the matter?"

"How many times have you asked me that today?"

"As many times as it's been necessary."

I chuckled, and he returned it. That was a good sign. Maybe we could get along even when I treated him a bit roughly. I was always treating Kari roughly anyway, but, well, she was Kari. She could take it. It seemed Ed might be able to handle it fine too, which would be nice. It was always nice to have more friends who could handle you being you.

"Um, what do we talk about?" I said.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't you know the first thing about making friends? The first thing you ask them is what they enjoy doing as a hobby. Then they ask you and you tell them. If your hobbies match, you've got a friend for life."

I looked into his face and shook my finger at him. "Don't be sarcastic. That's _my_ job."

"Yeah, well, I took it from you." He pulled out another cookie. "My hobbies seem to be math, science, and reading."

I laughed. "_Seem_ to be? You're not _sure?_"

"Long story," he said with a shrug. "What about you?"

"Well," I laced my fingers around my knee and leaned back. "I like reading too, a lot, actually, and I like to draw, and I'm obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist."

His brow knitted together in confusion and he put down the cookie he had just picked up. "Fullmetal Alchemist?"

At this, I had to throw my head back and laugh. This guy didn't even know what Fullmetal Alchemist was, and yet he'd dressed like the guy and acted like him all day? This had to be an act.

"I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about."

He shook his head.

I gestured with my hand as if trying to draw the words toward me to help me with my speech. "You know, the anime show about the alchemist kid?"

His confused expression got deeper. "Anime?"

I sighed. "You mean you don't know what anime is either?"

Another head shake, and I placed my hand on my forehead in disbelief. "Then why did you agree to come with me to Anime Club on Monday?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "You were going, so I figured—-"

"—-Yeah, okay," I said, "We need to get you into anime. Drop by sometime and I'll introduce you to it."

"Fine." He turned away as he picked up another cookie and then put it down. He seemed to be starting to think twice about having eaten so many cookies all at once. "Guess I'd better save some of these little treasures for my folks." He then patted them, which made me raise an eyebrow at him for once, instead of the other way around. "But they're so precious…"

"Um, okay, on that note—-I think I'd better go check on my dad. He's probably home by now and wondering where I am."

Edward nodded and escorted me to the door. We said goodbye and I went back to my house. Dad still wasn't home, but that didn't bother me. It gave me time to think, and I needed it then.

I grabbed my sketchbook and headed upstairs to my bedroom. I could think best while doodling, and I suspected there was some heavy doodling afoot. Wonderboy the awesome superhero had come in and shaken up my world, and I needed to find out whether it could be put back together the way it was, or whether I even wanted that. So many questions, so few answers. Wonderboy, I'm onto you.

_**Hope you liked the story. See you again soon!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Whoo! Sorry it took so long to get around to updating this. Me and AdventureAddict like to write both of these stories at the same time so we can give each other tips on the story's world, exchange chapters after a day of writing, and exchange muses. ((snickers)) Suffice it to say, we don't often find the time to both be writing at exactly the same time, so we take a while.**_

_**That aside, we have each managed to write up two chapters for both "My Body, Your Soul" and "The New Neighbors", but I've only edited this chapter and not my other one, and she hasn't edited either of hers yet, hehe. Oh well, just the fact that they're written ought to be encouraging enough, since editing doesn't take too long once one gets around to it.**_

_**In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next one will be up as soon as I get it edited. ((And yes, those of you following this after having read the old version, I combined two chapters into one, so the order of events is different. AA had accidentally placed two chapters as happening on Monday of the same week, so I decided to just mush them both into the same Monday, even though that makes things a little angsty. A little angst never hurt anybody though, right?))**_

_**Disclaimer: Neither me nor AdventureAddict own Fullmetal Alchemist. I've had a few people tell me I should be the English VA for Al in the new FMA series though if that counts, but I haven't made up my mind whether to try or not. Big chicken here, hehe.  
**_

"D—- it, that girl stole my paper _again!_"

I kicked the nearest wall. Not satisfied, I punched my fist into my palm. That still wasn't enough. I considered punching the wall as well as kicking it, but then I got a better idea. Robyn had gone too far this time, and she was going to get what was coming to her.

Stealing the newspaper once was a forgivable offense, though I still wouldn't let someone get away with that. That Robyn though, not only is she able to weasel her way out of Edward wrath, but she seems to be able to turn the situation back around—-and then repeat the whole ordeal the next day. I had to go over there and fetch the paper or my foster parents would get mad, but I was not about to do the chicken dance again just to get it back.

I balled my fists at my sides and stalked up to Robyn's front door. I rapped three times on the door, fuming inside about how long she was taking to come and answer it, even though it had only been about two seconds since I had knocked.

The door swung open, and I paled and took a step back. That wasn't Robyn, it was her father, and I wasn't prepared to deal with her father over this. It wasn't his fault, and no doubt he had no idea what was going on.

"Oh, hello, Edward. Come to see Robyn again?" I nodded wordlessly. The fire had already gone out of me, and I pondered going home and coming back once I had regained my reason for wanting to kill, but that would have been hard to explain to Mr. Davenport.

"Well, then, come on in. I'll see if she's awake yet."

I blanched at the thought, but followed him anyway. I had forgotten that some people might not get up as early as my foster parents made me get up, since we were still unpacking. Robyn probably only left enough time in the morning for her to get herself ready for school, and she might not even have gotten out of bed yet. Would I see her in her pajamas if she were brought out of her sleep? I could feel a headache coming on.

No, I reminded myself, she had to have been awake at some point earlier this morning or she wouldn't have been able to steal my paper. That girl was just bluffing. She would not still be in her pajamas. Edward, get a hold of yourself. That Robyn isn't even a girl and doesn't deserve to be thought of as one. She's a monster.

"Oh, hey, Ed, what brings you over here this fine morning?"

I snapped my head in the direction of the voice and crossed my arms. Sure, she was smiling all sweetly, but inside she was a demon. "I believe we have an issue to discuss about a certain paper?" I glanced around to make sure her dad wasn't listening in on us. I would hate for anyone to know what Robyn had been putting me through the past few days.

She rubbed her chin, but I knew she wasn't thinking. She probably didn't even know how to. "Paper? What paper?"

I sighed and dropped my hands to my sides. "That's it, I'm done playing your little games. I'm just going to go tell my foster parents who keeps stealing our morning paper, and then they can take it up with your dad."

I turned my back to her and acted as though I were about to walk out, though I wasn't really planning on doing so. My foster parents expected me to come home with the paper, but Robyn didn't need to know that.

"Geez, Ed, you're no fun anymore." I turned around to glare at her, only to find the paper flying at me. It smacked me in the face before I could duck.

"Oops," she said, "You shouldn't have turned around."

"Why?" I said, bending down and picking up the paper, "So I can go blind from having you constantly hitting me in the back of the head?"

She laughed. I didn't see what was so funny, but she laughed. Robyn's always laughing about something. "How would you go blind from being hit in the back of the head?"

"Tch." I gestured toward the back of my head with the newspaper I held in my hand. "The vision center is back there, hello?"

Her eyes went wide for a moment, then returned to normal. "It is? I would have thought it would be behind your eyes."

"Well, brains are quirky like that."

She chuckled. I needed to find the chuckling section of her brain and smash it in before she chuckled me to death. "Where did you learn that?"

I gulped. That was not a question I wanted to even try to answer, not that I could have if I did. "I-I—-I forget?"

She regarded me with a strange look before shrugging it off and turning to go wherever it was she was planning on going. She turned her head back around and said, "I still need to eat breakfast, but if you don't mind watching me eat, you're welcome to hang around."

I shrugged. As long as she wasn't eating anything awesome like chocolate without offering me any, I would be fine. I had already eaten my own breakfast before coming over. I sighed and followed her into her dining room, though I had no idea why I was doing it, since I was supposed to be mad at her for stealing my paper. At least she hadn't made me do the chicken dance this time.

Robyn pulled an extra chair to the table and invited me to sit. I was a little nervous about sitting at the family dining table since her father was sitting at it too, but Robyn seemed to think it was okay, so I figured I'd just do it and hope for the best.

Robyn was eating a plate full of bacon and eggs, and there were two strangely wrapped things around her plate. Presents? I didn't know what the occasion was. Maybe it was her birthday. She should have told me and I could have found something to give her—-so long as she agreed to stop stealing my paper each morning.

"Dad," she laughed and picked up one of the objects as she looked at her father. "What are these for? My birthday isn't until next week."

I breathed a sigh of relief. So I hadn't missed anything. That was a relief. I still had time to figure out something to do for her. Remind me why I was trying to be nice to this girl again?

Mr. Davenport smiled. "No, it isn't, but I'm going on a business trip this Friday and won't get back in time for your real birthday, so I thought we'd celebrate a week early."

Robyn's hands trembled as she lowered her present to her lap. "You're—-You're leaving?"

"Only for a week, sweetheart. I'm sure you can survive a week without me, can't you?" The man was smiling at his daughter, but she didn't return the smile. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Robyn was scared. That couldn't be right though. Robyn wasn't scared of anything.

"I-I've—-never been alone for that long before—-"

I opened my eyes wide. Never? And she was what, sixteen? No wonder she was scared.

Her dad reached across the table and stroked Robyn's cheek. Her breath shuddered for a moment, and I wondered if she remembered I was there. If she had, she probably wouldn't have shown that much of a weak side when we had only known each other for a few days—-or had we? Was this really the first time I met her, or had we met before? She knew how to push my buttons, and it generally took people a lot longer to figure that out. It was almost eerie.

"Sweetheart, don't worry so much. You know I'd never abandon you." He paused for a moment as Robyn looked up into his face, and he offered her yet another smile. "As it happens, I was going to have you stay with our neighbors for the week so you wouldn't be lonely."

By "neighbors" I knew he wasn't referring to my family. We had only moved in a few days ago, so there would be no way he would trust us that quickly. Judging by the expression on Robyn's face, I could tell she realized that too.

"Oh, Dad, please, not the Gurps! I'm always having to shake roaches out of my clothes whenever I go there!"

I made a noise of disgust. Robyn turned and looked at me, but she didn't seem upset at the realization that I was still there. Strangely, she seemed—-comforted. I understood why she'd hate those neighbors. Their yard alone looked atrocious.

"Besides," she said, "All they ever eat is broccoli. Blech! Can't I stay with Kari?"

Mr. Davenport chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Robbie, but Kari's family has a dog, and you know you're allergic." Robyn hung her head and sighed. Her father cleared his throat and said, "But I wasn't going to make you stay with the Gurps. I hate their lifestyle just as much as you do."

Robyn raised her head and looked into her father's eyes. "Then—-where?"

Then her dad did something that really surprised me. He motioned towards me and said, "With the Elliots. I've known them for a long time. We met on a business trip once and have kept in contact ever since. They didn't move in next door to us for no reason."

I blinked several times and then shook my head. "Wait—-are you telling me that my folks already knew you?"

"Yes they do, Edward, and I trust them to take good care of Robyn for me."

I sat there in a daze for I don't know how long. Now I was really wondering if I had known Robyn before. If only I could remember. How much had I forgotten?

Mr. Davenport waved his fork at Robyn. "Well, Robbie, aren't you going to open up your presents?"

"Heh," she said, "Why did you have to pick September 11th to celebrate my birthday, of all days?" I didn't see any difference between the 11th of September and any other day, but I guessed that she didn't like it for some reason, judging by the expression on her face.

"I figured the day could use something pleasant in it. Now open up your presents."

She sighed and opened her first gift, which was small and poorly wrapped. It didn't seem Robyn's father knew how to wrap presents, but that didn't necessarily say anything about the quality of the presents inside. At least, I hoped not.

Robyn gasped and held up a necklace of some sort with all sorts of triangular charms hanging off of it. She was smiling. It was nice to finally see her smile after all that conversation before.

"I've always wanted one of these!" She leaned across the table and threw her arms around her father's neck. "Thanks, Dad!"

"You're welcome, sweetie," he chuckled.

I raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"A guitar pick necklace." She held it closer so I could see it in better detail. "See? Each of these charms is really a guitar pick." I took one of the triangles in my hand and felt it. Sure enough, it was a guitar pick. I was impressed. Who would have known one could make such an interesting thing out of something like that?

"The next one is even better," said her father suddenly, so Robyn sat back in her seat and took the second present and opened it. She let out a squeal and held up what appeared to me to be just a red sweater, but then she turned it around and exposed the back of it and my face turned white. The symbol on the back was the same symbol on the back of my coat.

I had to have known her before.

* * *

I hadn't paid much attention to what happened after Robyn opened her birthday gifts. My mind was reeling too much, trying to make sense out of what I had seen, but it wasn't coming together. As soon as I knew I could get away without seeming rude, I made an excuse that I had to go home to get ready for school and I bolted. I knew I'd be seeing her again in a few minutes, but at least I had a few minutes to think

When I arrived at school, Robyn surprised me by showing up in clothes that seemed unusual for her. She had been wearing a purple shirt and a pair of jeans when I'd gone over earlier. Now she had a baggy black shirt and a black skirt covering her other clothes. Why had she changed? I thought she had looked fine in fewer layers. This made her look a little—-freakish.

She plopped down in the seat next to me, but she didn't seem amused like she had been before. It was like the black clothes had sapped Robyn of her Robyn-ness and now she was one of those teens who thought life hated them. Hadn't she mentioned something about September 11th? Maybe there was something I didn't know.

"You okay?" I asked. She nodded and grunted in response, which I knew was not an affirmative answer, but I didn't know Robyn well enough to know whether I should follow through or let it drop.

Thankfully, the speaker came on at that moment, so I didn't have to make any decision at all.

"_All students and teachers, we would like to have a moment of silence today for those who were killed five years ago when the terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center."_

Robyn laid her head on her desk, her hair obscuring her face. I gulped. There really had been something bad about this day I hadn't known about, but that still didn't explain why Robyn was so bothered. No one else seemed to be taking it as hard, and I was sure it was just as horrible for everybody else to be reminded of it.

"_Thank you,"_ said the speaker, and I knew I was allowed to talk again.

I placed a hand on Robyn's shoulder and said, "Hey, you okay?" I'd asked her that before, so I didn't know why I was asking her again, but I couldn't sit there and pretend I wasn't noticing how she was acting.

Robyn shook her head, and I felt my gut lurch. At least she was being honest now, but it didn't help me to feel better about the situation. I hadn't realized it before, but somehow I'd managed to become friends with the girl over the weekend, and I cared whether she was upset or not.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I just—-" she paused. I assumed she was looking for words. If it had anything to do with this day, it was probably something hard to explain. "I don't feel good."

I nodded and stood up from the desk. If Robyn wasn't going to complain about her problems, then I was. That was what friends did, wasn't it?

I walked up to Mr. Duncan and explained the problem as best I understood it, and he nodded and told me to take Robyn to the nurse. I turned and went back to Robyn.

"Hey," I shook her shoulder, causing her to look up at me. "We're going down to the nurse's office. You don't look so good." She nodded and then sniffed. It appeared she had been crying and trying to hide it. Over what, I had no idea, but I wanted to find out.

Once in the hall, I turned to her and said, "Why are you wearing black?"

"Because," she said, "It's September 11th."

"I realize that." I placed my hands on my hips and sighed. "Black is the color of mourning, and you were crying—-"

"I was not!"

I waved my hand at her. I wasn't going to argue something that obvious if she clearly didn't want to talk about it, but I still wanted to know what was going on. "Anyway, I don't really know what's going on here, and I want to. Why is everyone so worked up about a terrorist attack? Don't those happen all the time?"

She stopped walking and stared me dead in the face. What had I said to make her look at me like that? I always tried to appear normal. Was I failing when I had thought I'd managed to finally make a friend here?

"You—-You honestly don't know anything about September 11th?"

I shrugged and shook my head. "Not really—-I wish I knew what everyone was getting so worked up about."

She reached up and clutched at the collar of her shirt and didn't say anything for several agonizing minutes, but I managed to convince her to continue walking anyway so we wouldn't raise questions from anyone who caught us in the hall.

"Um—-Ed, come over to my house after school, okay? I'll explain September 11th to you then."

"After Anime Club, you mean?"

She smacked her forehead. "Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that! Thanks for reminding me! Yes, after Anime Club."

We walked the rest of the way to the nurse's office in silence. It was a bit awkward, since I really wanted to comfort her, but I couldn't think of how to do so. I didn't even know what was wrong, so what was I supposed to do?

I dropped her off at the nurse's office, though she was really hesitant to have me leave. She'd made some excuse about being afraid of needles, which I didn't believe. Robyn Davenport was stronger than that. Still, seeing the way she'd been acting had my mind reeling with the knowledge that she was more human than I had thought. There were things that could upset her too. I think she was just wanting a friend to be beside her while in the nurse's office.

Unfortunately, I needed to get back to class. My foster parents would kill me if I skipped class for any reason short of someone dying, so I made sure she was in good hands with the nurse, apologized to Robyn that I couldn't stay, and promised to see her later that day. She sniffed and agreed.

She didn't come back at all for Chemistry class, though I'd sort of expected that, but she wasn't back for Gym either, and that had me a bit concerned. Was what she had so bad that it could hold her off this long?

Lunchtime came around, and still no Robyn. Now I was really getting worried. I was starting to wonder if I should just skip Anime Club and go straight to Robyn's house, but then I remembered that she might not even _be_ at her house then, she might be in Anime Club. I owed it to her to at least check Anime Club first and see if she was there. If she wasn't, I didn't have to stay.

The last period finally ended, and I headed down to the Social Studies classroom, as she had instructed me to do. I hoped she was in there. I was really getting worried since she had skipped at least half a day of school, maybe more.

I opened the door, and suddenly all eyes were on me. I wanted to shrink back from the unhealthy stares I could feel coming from them, but I was here on a mission. I had to find Robyn.

I glanced around the room, and breathed out a sigh of relief. Robyn was sitting at a desk up near the front of the room, so I walked into the room and headed over to where she was.

"Hey, Ed, come and sit by me!"

I spun around and glared at the speaker, a strange blonde-haired girl who I had never seen in my life. How had she known my name?

"No, let _me_ sit with you!" I felt someone grasp my hand and I turned to see a brunette looking up at me and batting her eyes as though she thought that was attractive. "Your costume is absolutely awesome!"

I pulled my hand out of her hers and continued walking up to where Robyn was sitting, getting a few more calls of, "Ed!" and "Nice costume, dude!"

I shook my head and plopped down into the seat next to Robyn. She was wearing the shirt her dad had given her just that morning. I shivered. I was going to have to ask her about that shirt later.

"Since when does everyone know my name?"

She chuckled behind her hand and shook her head. "Oh, Ed. I'll explain later."

I rolled my eyes. "So, how many things are we up to that you have to explain to me?"

"I have no idea, but it's accumulating, isn't it?"

"I should say." I crossed my arms on my desk and rested my chin on them. I hoped this club thing would at least be worth my time.

After a moment, a girl with blue hair stood up in front of the class and yelled, "Okay, everyone, quiet!" I frowned. Blue hair? What was this girl on?

I was further convinced that she was on something when she started to speak, because she didn't seem to realize there was any practical reason why most of us mortals spoke slowly, and so she spoke as though she lived, slept, and breathed in the fast lane of life.

I could barely understand her, but I managed to make out what she was saying even though it made my eyes bug out. It sounded something like, "Hieveryonemyname'sAllisonbuteverybodycallsmeFredsoyoushouldtooandwelcometoanimeclubIknowthatwe'regoingtohavetonsoffunthisyearandwemightevengett-shirtsbutanywaybacktotodaysagendatodaywe'regoingtowatchKiki'sDeliveryServiceandIknowyou'reallgoingtoloveitcuzitsanawesomemovieandit'sanime! Kay?"

I shook my head. No, it was not okay. Not. At. All. What kind of girl would call herself "Fred", anyway?

Freak-o girl stopped in her ranting long enough to catch her breath, and then spewed out another line of dialogue about her being the president of Anime Club as though she'd forgotten that she was until now. Well, I knew I was out then. If the president was going to be like that, this would be my first and last time in Anime Club. The girl was freaking nuts, and I expressed my irritation in a snort.

The girl looked like she was ready to kill me, and I grinned at her. I dared her to try anything against me in front of all these people. She'd lose her respect as the president in no time, unless they were all just as idiotic as she was. I sure hoped not. If anime did that to people, I wanted no part of any of it.

"Hey!" she said, "I bet you're shorter than the real Ed!"

A cloud settled over my eyes, and it felt as though I had suddenly lost control. Short? She had called me short? I lunged at her from my desk while my mouth seemed to be spewing off random words.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT EVEN A MUSTARD SEED WOULD LAUGH AT IT?"

That didn't seem to help matters much, as "Fred" just started laughing at my rant and a buzz had started in the classroom. I clenched my fists by my side. This wasn't funny. I was so going to kill her.

I lunged for her again, but felt myself being held back by something. I wrestled against whatever it was, but didn't seem to be making any progress. I turned to look, and sure enough, there was Robyn, her arms wrapped tightly around me and holding on with all her might.

I struggled and kicked, but her grip remained fast. This was seeming so familiar somehow, but I couldn't remember where I had seen it last. Probably some stupid movie I'd watched as a kid.

"Let me go!" I shouted, but it didn't get anywhere. "I'll cut her into a thousand pieces and then stomp the pieces deep within the earth's crust, and when I get tired of that, I'll duct tape her back together and do it again! And again! And again!"

Fred wasn't helping the situation at all. She seemed to think my reaction was hilarious, and was laughing her head off, which only made me all the angrier. Robyn wasn't helping the situation either, holding me back like she was. Why wouldn't she let me go? I only wanted to kill the freak.

"Come on, Ed, let's get out of here," she said, and she released my waist and grabbed my wrist instead, but I still wasn't done with Fred. I turned back to look, er, glare at the girl even as Robyn was dragging me out the door. That girl was so going to pay one of these days.

"Don't you think this is the end of this!" I shook my fist at the person up front, causing yet another laugh to emanate from her and the rest of the room buzzed again. What were they fussing about? Maybe me, the freaks. What was so interesting about me other than that I wanted to kill their president? "I'll find you, you blue-haired freak, and I'll make you rue the day you were born!"

I didn't get to say whatever else had been on my head, because Robyn finally managed to get me out of that room, and so I stopped struggling now that the evil blue freak wasn't in the same room as me.

I turned to Robyn as I huffed and brushed off my clothes in the hope of reassembling my dignity somewhat. "What was that all about? What the h—- did she mean 'the real Ed'?"

Robyn blinked. Had I confused her again? I seemed to have a talent for doing that, though I had no idea what was so odd that I kept doing so as to confuse a person. She shrugged her backpack over her shoulders and turned away. "Well, my list of explanations is getting larger by the minute. What say we go back to my place and cross a few things off that list?"

I couldn't argue with that. Robyn certainly wasn't the only one confused.

_**Hope you liked that. The next chapter will be up as soon as I edit it. Hope to see you soon!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Wow, this story's finally picking up in its review count. That's always nice to see since I don't ask for reviews anymore unless I'm unsure of the story and need feedback, hehe. I may not require reviews to continue writing, but I certainly love them. Thanks especially to 11chiyochan for commenting on every chapter. You're one of those special reviewers every writer loves to see.**_

_**Anyway, the long one day wait for the next chapter is over, hehe. I hope you enjoy this. Me and AdventureAddict will try to get the next chapters of both this and MBYS written soon, so keep in touch.**_

_**Disclaimer: We really don't have to do these every chapter, you know. It's not in the Guidelines or anything. I only do it because it gives me an excuse to come up with all sorts of strange ways to say I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. Well, I guess I already said it there, so I won't say it again. I'll say something creative next time, so meh!  
**_

It wasn't long before I found myself back in the Davenport household, though without Mr. Davenport there it felt so—-empty. Either that, or Robyn just had a creepy vibe by herself. I'd known there was something creepy about that girl all along, but I was still irresistably drawn to figuring her out. She knew too much, and I wanted to know why.

She led me up to her room and opened the door, letting herself in, but I stayed behind to look at her door. It was covered in a huge collection of drawings, and I found myself oggling over the enormous amount of work that had to have gone into all of them. I didn't recognize all of the people in the drawings, but some of the characters resembled some of the things I had seen in movies.

"Did you draw all these?"

Robyn looked up from what appeared to be a bookshelf, a pink bookshelf, and said, "Oh, yeah, I draw sometimes. Whenever I do one I like, I put it up on the door."

"Interesting," I said, averting my eyes from the pink before they could be burned out. Pink was so—-girly. The thought of being caught in a girly room was a bit unnerving, even if it wasn't my room.

My eyes fell on a drawing near the middle of the door, and a smirk crossed my face. "Hey, Robyn…"

"Yeah?"

"You wouldn't happen to have sketched me without me knowing, would you?"

The girl didn't answer properly, sounding more like a choke than anything else, but that was just as good an affirmative as any. The sneaky little thing, drawing pictures of random boys behind their backs. I shook my head and chuckled. At least she had drawn me fairly well, so I wouldn't have to kill her—-yet. I'd use that to get back at her if she continued stealing my newspaper.

"Hmmm…" I reached out and touched the drawing nearest the one of me. Something bothered me about it, but I couldn't place it. It was a picture of someone in a suit of armor, but it was unnerving somehow. It kind of reminded me of…

"Find something interesting?" called Robyn.

"Uh, yeah…" I said, "Who's this?"

I heard Robyn's footsteps as she came over, and she squeaked as she saw the picture I was looking at. Strange reaction for someone to have over my finding a picture on the door when all her pictures were well done. There was seriously something going on that I needed to figure out.

"Uh, well, that is—-" She coughed, brushed her hair out of her eyes, and began again. "That's a kid, about our age. He and his brother are looking for something."

My eyes widened as I looked at the picture of the armor. That thing was freaking huge, how could he be about our age? Then again, it was just a drawing, but it still bugged me somehow.

I cleared my throat. "What are they looking for?"

She turned her eyes away from me. Not a good sign. "I um, I forgot."

That statement didn't ring true at all, but I wouldn't press, not yet. There were other things she was planning on explaining to me first, so I might as well just add this new thing onto the list for later.

Robyn thrust a book under my nose. "These are pictures taken in New York City of September 11th. Two terrorist planes crashed into the World Trade Center that day, and—-" Her voice turned wobbly, and I nodded that it was okay and took the book from her hands. She didn't have to tell me the whole story if it hurt so much; I could get most of it from the book itself. Books never had trouble with their emotions, part of the reason I loved them so much.

I stepped into Robyn's room and sat down on a nearby chair, a chair with a pink cushion at that. What was this girl's obsession with pink? Robyn remained silent for the time being as I flipped through the book, staring at the pictures and reading the captions to go with them.

I was surprised that I had not known about something of this proportion. Surely someone would have talked about it, even during the small amount of time I could recall. This seemed like a pretty huge deal, judging by the pictures and the text describing it, and it had only happened a few years ago. They couldn't have forgotten it so soon.

My eyes fell on a couple people in one of the pictures, and I traced them with my hand. A man and a child, the child with black hair down almost to her waist. She looked kind of like Robyn, except younger and with much longer hair. Wait—-could that have something to do with her behavior today?

I looked up from the book. She was standing nearby, hands clasped behind her back. Again, I was astounded by how non-Robynesque she was acting. She was normally so outgoing and obnoxious that this was a stark contrast to her normal behavior. "Robyn," I ventured, "Is this you?"

She sighed and came over to look at the picture I was pointing to. She nodded. "Yeah, that's me and my dad." She stood up and rubbed at her eyes. I closed the book. Something told me I wouldn't need to read anything else. This day had affected Robyn more strongly than it had most people.

"My—-My mom had a job interview at the World Trade Center on September 11th—-" Her voice trailed off, but I didn't need to hear anything more. I understood now. If those buildings had fallen down on the day her mother was in one of them, then that would explain why there didn't seem to be a Mrs. Davenport around.

I set the book aside and stood up, put my hand on her shoulder, and said, "I'm sorry."

She closed her eyes, and I could feel her shoulder shaking beneath my hand. "If she'd gotten that job, we'd have lived right in the area of one of my good friends, and we would have had an entirely different lifestyle, but those—-those terrorists had to—-"

"I know," I said. I normally would have said "I understand" to such a situation, but I didn't know how I could possibly relate to that. I didn't even know what I had in my past to relate to. My words weren't comforting Robyn at all, and I should have expected that. How comforting were the words "I know", anyway?

I didn't want to discuss it, didn't want to bring it up, didn't want her to think any less of me, but it seemed now was the time to throw myself on the line and see if she really was as trustworthy as I thought she was. Besides, she might seriously know more than I did and be able to give me some clues. "A-At least you can remember your mom."

Robyn opened her eyes and turned to look at me, a strange look coming over her. "You—-don't remember yours?"

I shook my head. "Other than that she died, no. I don't even remember _how_ she died."

Her jaw dropped open, and she covered it with her hand as soon as she noticed. I sighed and sat back down. I hated revealing such things to people. It was mortifying to let anyone think I might be that vulnerable. I really hoped I could trust her as much as I'd assumed.

"You don't remember anything? Anything about your past?"

I shook my head once again. "I know my name—-well, my first name, and I know my mom is dead. That's it."

"Seriously? Nothing else?"

I inched away from her a bit and again shook my head, but stopped mid-shake. "Well—-I do remember something else, but it's fuzzy."

"What is it?"

I hung my head. Why was she interested? Did she know me from before? If so, why didn't she just tell me so and inform me of everything I had forgotten? It would make things so much easier for me.

She knelt down next to me and placed her hand on my knee. "Come on, Ed, you can tell me. I'm not going to go around telling everybody you have amnesia."

Amnesia. Right. I grimaced at the term. I hated calling it that, regardless of whether it was true or not. It sounded too vulnerable.

"Well, there's—-there's this boy I keep seeing. He kind of resembles me, but doesn't. I don't know who he is, and it bothers the h—- out of me."

Robyn pursed her lips and didn't say anything for several agonizing minutes. I rolled my eyes and sighed as I leaned back into the chair. Was she going to suddenly cast me off now that she saw I wasn't perfect and obnoxious like she thought? Would she think less of me? I hadn't made any friends here besides her yet, and I didn't want to lose the first one I'd met.

I looked around her room while waiting for her to say something. Sure enough, the pink had spread like an infection throughout her room, but once I saw the room as a whole, the pink layout didn't seem so atrocious as I'd thought. She'd painted her walls black and had stenciled the lyrics to some song on them. In pink of course, but it produced a nice contrast, in spite of it being all pink-y. At least it wasn't as girly as I'd thought. She had pretty good taste. Weird and Robyny.

"This boy," said Robyn, "How exactly does he resemble you?"

I shrugged and still refused to look directly at her. "It's fuzzy, like I said. He's got blond hair like I do, but darker. Not as long either. And…nngh…"

Robyn's eyes went wide. "Edward, what's the matter?"

I shook my head. "I just don't like thinking about it."

She patted my hand. "I understand, but still—-don't you want to regain your memories?"

I glared at the girl for a second before sighing and turning away and resting my head in my hands. What a dumb question. Doesn't every, ahem, amnesiac, want to regain their lost memories?

"Tch, of course I want to remember, but—-it hurts. I feel—-bad, guilty, every time I think about him."

Robyn raised an eyebrow. "Guilty?"

"Yes, guilty!" I snapped. I shook my head. I didn't know why I was getting so irritated. It wasn't her fault, except perhaps that she was prying into things I didn't want her to pry into. "Who was he, and what did I do to him? Do you think I—-killed him?"

Robyn coughed, and I turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. My heartbeat accelerated. I'd always suspected that she knew more about me than I did, and I was wondering how to get her to spill whatever she knew. Was she going to do that now? I hoped so, but I was terrified at what she might have to say, especially if it turned out I had been some kind of monster in the life I had forgotten.

"Um, Ed, how about I answer your question about Anime Club first, alright?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. How long was she going to stall? Couldn't we prioritize the questions instead of just going in the order they camer? I wasn't going to keep putting up with this, not so long as my name was Edward Elliot—-it hadn't been that name for long, but so long as it was, I was going to do something about the situation.

"Look, Robyn, I know you know something—-something more about me than you're saying. Why can't you—-I mean—-can't you tell me anything? Did we—-like—-know each other?"

"Oh!" Robyn placed her hand over her mouth and looked away. "Know each other? No. Oh, no wonder you were staring at me like that."

I sighed and melted into the chair. Another lead fallen through the roof. Was I never to figure out who I was? Why did I have to be cursed with this burden? It wasn't fair!

She patted my hand again. "I think you'll find the answer to the Anime Club question more interesting than you think."

I grumbled as I stood up. I was curious about what had happened there and how they had all known my name, but I preferred to know what Robyn knew, and she didn't seem to be willing to reveal her knowledge anytime soon.

She led me into the living room and motioned toward the couch, so I sat down. "Alright," I said, "What happened at Anime Club? Why did everyone know my freaking name?"

"Um, it had to do with the way you were dressed."

I glanced down at my clothes and then back at her. "What's wrong with the way I dress?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "It's just—-well—-"

"What?"

She pulled a DVD off the shelf, popped open the case and took out the disc, then tossed the case to me. I had no idea what a movie had to do with the situation, but I grabbed the case and looked at it anyway. As soon as I saw the cover art, my face blanched. It wasn't a very good representation, but if someone had wanted to draw me as a 2D character, the boy on the cover was probably about how I would look.

I looked back up at Robyn, an unasked question in my eyes. She nodded as she placed the DVD in the player. "I figured you hadn't seen it before, or you would have known why everyone was acting the way they were."

No, I hadn't seen it, whatever "it" was. I looked back down at the case. "Fullmetal Alchemist". I had no idea what this was supposed to be, but I was definitely going to see if I could get any answers out of it. Maybe I had been a fan of this show before. That would explain why I went around dressing as the character, or would it? Was I that obsessed?

The menu came up, and Robyn pushed play and set the remote in between us on the couch. I relaxed, hoping to be entertained if nothing else. The narrator started explaining the subject of alchemy. Something in the back of my mind responded, but I pushed it back. That little voice had bugged me during chemistry class as well, and it was annoying. It wouldn't let me concentrate on what was going on around me.

I continued to watch, paying as much attention as I could despite the little voice. My heart leapt into my throat at the mention of the main character's title. They hadn't even used his name yet, but the other boy with him had called him "Brother", and that alone had gotten to me somehow. I grabbed the remote and paused it while I continued staring at the screen, blinking, yet seeing nothing.

"Ed? Something wrong?"

I shook my head wordlessly and clicked my tongue, forgetting my English for a moment. "Brother—-that's what the boy called me. He was my brother." I growled and threw my head back against the couch. "D—- it, what did I do to him?"

Robyn's hands were shaking as she took the remote control from my hand and pushed play. "Let's just—-continue watching for now, shall we?" I nodded, but didn't say anything in response. What was there to say, anyway?

I continued to watch as the characters were introduced. The little brother, his name was Al, and the older brother, whose name was the same as mine. Either I was just really obsessed, or—-no, that couldn't be the case. That was ridiculous. This was a cartoon, for pete's sake!

Then Al got pulled into this big purple mass, and I lost control. I jumped up and screamed at him before I realized what I was doing. I felt Robyn's hand in mine, and I turned to face her. She didn't seem to think I was stupid for any of my reactions at all. She seemed to understand the situation, which was surprising to me, considering how I was acting.

I followed her tug and sat back down on the couch, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks. "Sorry," I muttered.

She shook her head. "It's nothing. It's just—-I think you're relating to this even more than I thought."

I put my head in my hands. My shoulders were shaking, though I couldn't for the life of me understand why. This was just a cartoon. Even if I had been an obsessed fan before I lost my memories, I shouldn't be acting like this. It was stupid, just downright stupid.

My voice squeaked, and I tried to swallow it before it became audible, but there was just a lump in my throat. I wasn't going to cry, I wasn't going to cry, I wasn't going to cry—-

"Ed, are you alright?"

I wanted to say I was fine, but that would be a transparent lie, and even Robyn would be able to see through it, but I didn't want to say no either. I was just being stupid, reacting like this over a cartoon. Cartoons weren't real, they didn't happen to real people, or they weren't supposed to—-

I shivered. "I killed him, didn't I? I killed my little brother."

"Aw, Ed!" Robyn threw her arms around me, startling me out of my thoughts. Now I got to be distracted by wondering if I should appreciate being hugged instead of trying to deal with troublesome memories. Perhaps I should have been grateful, but I was annoyed.

"I doubt you killed your brother—-I mean, the Ed in this show didn't kill him."

I looked up at her, hope staining my face. "…He didn't?"

"No." She let go and sat back up, taking the remote and pushing play. "Just watch a couple minutes more and you'll see what I mean."

I watched, getting more and more disturbed as I did so. My hands were clenched on the arm of the couch and on my knee, and my knuckles had turned white. I was shivering from all the sweat running down my body, and I felt like I was going to pass out from all the stress. I couldn't take this much longer.

I jerked my hand up and pointed at the screen, a sign Robyn took to pause the movie. "That—-that armor—-that's what's on your door, isn't it?"

Robyn sighed. "Yes…"

I looked at her, then back at the screen, then back at her, and fidgeted in my seat. I wouldn't be able to last through much more of this, but I had to try and go for as long as I could. There was seriously something to this show, some vital clue that I was picking up on, and like it or not, I was going to find that clue, whatever it took.

A few moments later, I watched as "Al", the character who was now in the armor form, picked up "Ed" and rushed him to their friend's house. "Ed" had just lost his arm and leg. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and gripped my right arm with my left hand. I gritted my teeth. Something was disturbing about this whole thing. I couldn't take this. I had to get out—-NOW!

I lost my senses and bolted from my seat and out the door. Robyn was screaming behind me to tell her what was the matter, but I couldn't tell her. I couldn't talk. I couldn't handle this. There was just so much I couldn't deal with. If this show had anything to do with my past, it was pointing to something horrible, and I couldn't deal with it all at once.

I ran back to my house. My foster parents weren't home, and I breathed a sigh of relief and ran down to the basement. There was something I had to check on.

I stood before the large sheet-covered object with trembling hands. I couldn't bring myself to lift the sheet and verify what was under there. I knew what it was, but did I really "know"? I wasn't sure if I could handle finding out. I was too weak.

"Ed?"

I turned and saw Robyn coming down the stairs. She had let herself into the house. Not the politest girl I'd ever met, but perhaps I needed a rude friend at the moment. At least a rude friend was a strong friend.

"Hey, what happened back there? You got me all freaked out."

"You're telling me."

"Aw, Ed!" she said as she came closer to me, "your face is all wet. You've been crying!"

"I have not!" I rubbed at my eyes, though I knew that if there really was any evidence of crying there, she would have already seen it.

"Fine," she said, and she turned to look down at the sheeted mass I'd been staring at. "What's this?"

I tensed and turned away from it, shaking my head. "Nothing!"

She sighed and crossed her arms. "In the short time I've known you, I've learned at least a few things, like how to spot your lies. You're pretty transparent."

I crossed my arms in response and glared, though not at her. Her gaze was too soul searching and it begged for the truth. I couldn't take that, not now. I needed to be left to my thoughts so I could deal with them and not explode.

"So, are you going to talk?"

I shook my head, which seemed to be the wrong thing to do. Robyn grabbed my hand and pulled it so I was facing toward her, but then she frowned and looked at my arm. I grimaced. She hadn't grabbed that arm before, not my right arm. I hadn't let her. I hadn't known how to explain it and didn't want to try. Even after watching a few minutes of Fullmetal Alchemist and getting a potential explanation, I didn't want to use it. That show scared the crap out of me.

"Your arm is so—-hard." She looked up at me, a look of shock coming over her features. "No!—-Auto-mail?" I shrugged. If that was what the Edward in the series got, I wouldn't know. I'd run out before that part had been explained.

She turned around and looked at the sheet once again. "And this—-what is it?"

I shrugged again. I wished all this would just go away. I wanted to regain my memories, but why did pursuing them have to be so painful? "My foster parents—-the Elliots—-they, well, they found me out in the woods without any memories but the ones I told you about. And—-this was next to me."

Robyn raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

I sighed, knelt next to the sheet, and grabbed a corner of it. "You tell me." I stood up, and as I did so, pulled the sheet off the thing it was covering. Robyn's hands went to cover her mouth, and I stood there, watching, waiting, not knowing what I should do or say, but it seemed the reason I had freaked out so much over the show was now self explanatory.

The sheet had been covering a suit of armor, a suit of armor that looked way too much like that "Al" character for comfort. But it wasn't moving.

Robyn turned to look at me. "Oh, Ed…"

I dropped my gaze to the ground. "Is this—-my brother? Did I kill him?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, no, that's not possible! Al didn't die in the series. There must be something else to it."

I watched as she knelt down and removed the helmet and looked inside. "Huh, the blood rune is in there, so why isn't he moving?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Blood rune?"

She shook her head and sighed. "It's so weird to see you not knowing any of this stuff and yet living it."

"Tell me about it."

She stood up with a sigh and put her hands on her hips. "He's bound to the armor with a symbol painted out of blood—-your blood."

"My bl—-" I paused as the impact of her words sunk in. She wasn't talking like I was just an obsessed freak who loved the show too much, she was talking as if I really _was_ the character, but how could that be possible? That was a cartoon, it just couldn't be—-

"Do you really think—-that's Al?"

A light ignited within the armor and shone out of the eye holes, about like I'd seen in the show Robyn had shown me. I gulped and walked over to the armor and knelt down beside it while stretching my hand out to touch it.

"Al?"

"Brother!"

I jerked my hand away from the armor. Even though part of me had been anticipating its speaking to me, a large part of me still refused to accept what I was seeing. Fullmetal Alchemist was a cartoon. Why was I doubting that? Maybe Robyn was playing tricks. What did she want from me?

The armor sat up, and I took a couple steps back and bumped into Robyn. We exchanged glances, and I turned back to face the bulky metallic thing that had come to life. It turned its head and looked at me. "Brother? Where are we?"

I clenched my fists at my sides. A question demanded an answer, and I was not going to reveal how scared I was by refusing to speak. "Great Barrington," I said.

Silence prevailed for one long moment before the armor said, "Where's Great Barrington?"

My mind was whirring, and I couldn't recall the name of the state that housed the city we were in. I rubbed my forehead to try and get the memory to return, but all I was getting was a headache.

Robyn placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "It's in Massachusetts."

The armor—-Al—-looked between me and Robyn once again before saying, "And—-where is Massawhatsit?"

Robyn chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Let's just say you boys aren't in Kansas anymore."

Another quick glance between me and Al, and we unanimously blurted out, "Kansas?"

Robyn sighed, threw her arms up in the air and stomped away. We'd only asked where Kansas was. Was that so unreasonable?

_**Hope you all enjoyed that, and come back soon. We'll try to update within a reasonable timeframe this time.**_


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